All references cited in this specification, and their references, are incorporated by reference herein where appropriate for teachings of additional or alternative details, features, and/or technical background.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a microscope enclosure system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, high-end microscopes are put into darkrooms to reduce interference with viewing due to ambient light. Such microscopes are often put on tables or desks with various computer, controllers and other components which are associated therewith. While such accommodations significantly aid in microscopy, the use of dark rooms suffers from disadvantages.
An initial disadvantage of any dark room is that it requires that the user of the room take time to adapt from the change from outside bright light to the dark light of the dark room, and when leaving the dark room from the dark light of the dark room to the bright outside light. Dark rooms also do not in themselves protect against dust, ambient contaminants, etc from interfering with the microscope images taken within the dark room. In fact, since many dark rooms are small in nature, it inadequate ventilation is available in the room, contaminants may actually build up in the dark room. Lastly, the fabrication and maintenance of a dark room may cost considerable money.
Dark rooms in themselves also do not protect microscopists against some of the hazards of microscopy. For example, microscopists frequently use microscopes that emit potentially hazardous emissions, such as UV radiation. Further, a microscopist may need to treat a sample with certain toxic metals or taggants. Although operators of a microscope under such conditions are often required to wear protective gear, such as glasses and gloves, operators are still often exposed to adverse levels of emissions and toxic materials.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,475,316 describes a emission microscope system that having an emission microscope mounted on a transportable isolation vibration table having a hole cut in the table, the emission microscope being enclosed by a light tight enclosure. The emission microscope is firmly attached to the isolation table but the enclosure is not, such that jostling of the enclosure does not vibrate the emission microscope. Samples to be viewed, which as described are semiconductor circuits, are placed on a tester head, which may also be held on a movable support structure. The tester head is designed to be able to be coupled to the isolation vibration table by docking the tester head to the hole in the table by way of a light-tight flexible silicone rubber collar which mechanically locks the tester head to hole. Such system proffers the advantage light tight viewing of samples in conjunction with ease of movement of the microscope. However, it may not protect users from all emissions given the enclosure not being sealed to the isolation table, and it requires exacting coupling of the tester head with the isolation table each time a sample is to be viewed. Further, as the sample is held on the tester head in an exposed condition until coupling is performed to the isolation table, the sample to be read may be contaminated with contaminants in the ambient environment.
To overcome the laborious process of manual microscopy, a number of researchers, including the present inventors, have proposed automated microscopy systems for capturing and analyzing multiple image views of a biological sample on a microscope slide or other sample retaining device (such as a multiple well plate). Such systems have the potential to greatly improve the efficiency of microscopic analysis and to remove some of the subjective inputs that affect microscopic analysis of a sample.
Because automated microscopy systems require a high degree of control of all of the functions traditionally manually effected in conventional microscopy, and likewise requires exacting control over the many parameters which may effect the recording of an image, such systems have heretofore been often relegated to a dark room. Working components of the microscope in the dark room are immobility fixed to stationary objects, such as tables and counters. Systems such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,475,316 have been not found to lend themselves to automated microscopy systems given the exacting anti-vibrational needs of conventional automated microscopy systems and the desirability of such automated microscopy systems to handle the sequential analysis of many samples.